■^EAK FEET. 389 



tive sole to bulge iu tlie form of a fungoid granulation. To this 

 caustic remedies are generally applied. Such applications are, 

 however, calculated to do harm, as the supposed fungus is nothing 

 more than the swollen tissues, which disappear when the irrita- 

 tion has subsided, like any other inflammatory swelling. How- 

 ever, if, after the subsidence of the lameness and inflammation, 

 the bulging still continues, the nitrate of silver or sulphate of 

 copper and tar may be applied ; after which the part ought to 

 be exposed to the drying influences of the air, when a scab will 

 form, affording a natural protection to the tissues, which will now 

 soon heal. 



In paring and searching lame feet, great care is to be taken not 

 to make them bleed, as haemorrhage obscures the operation, and 

 renders it a difficult matter to follow a small spot of discoloration 

 to its termination ; and when the structures are wounded with 

 the knife, they are apt to sprout up, inflame, and cause the healing 

 process to be more prolonged than when the parts are carefully 

 pared. 



Two or three sizes of " searches " are very useful ; the smaller 

 ones, with double-cutting edges, to be employed in the more 

 delicate and concluding part of the operation. 



In many cases of punctured foot it is necessary to apply the 

 bar shoe for a few weeks in order to remove the pressure from 

 the seat of injury, and to diffuse it over the frog and healthy part 

 of the foot. Leather soles are also useful. 



WEAK FEET. 



Some horses have naturally weak feet, thin heels, and brittle 

 walls, with a tendency to split up into layers where the nails are 

 inserted. These feet require careful shoeing, with stout shoes. 

 and leather soles adapted to their special peculiarities. Horses 

 that show tenderness or slight pain in the feet after work are 

 much relieved and benefited by having their feet and legs 

 bathed in water, or by being made to stand in a foot-bath for 

 one or two hours at a time. 



QUITTOR, 



A fistulous wound upon the quarters and heels of the coronet, 



